Management tips: Listening to your employees
June 23, 2009 by Victorino Q. Abrugar
Filed under Uncategorized
Listening to employees plays a very important role in maintaining their morale and commitment to you (as their boss) and to your company (as their organization). Accordingly, if you are an employer or a manager, you should listen very well to your employees. Of course, most of managers do listen to their subordinates. This is a common employer–employee practice. But the question is…what is the proper way of listening to your employees? Is mere lending your ears to your employees enough? The answer is no – it’s not enough!
1. Listen using your mind
Listening and talking to your employees but not understanding them is not enough. This will even makes things worst since employees expect something when they try to talk in front of their employers or managers. When they seek help they expect help. When they seek understanding they expect understanding. You can only understand them if you will mind them.
2. Listen using your heart
Understanding and considering concerns of your employees is good. However, employers shall also focus on the human side of their employees – the human emotions. In this case a heart to heart talk is a must. We should not only consider and understand our employees, but we should also feel their feelings.
3. Listen using your hands
What most managers and even management gurus do not know is that the listening process should not only be accomplished through hearing, understanding and feeling. Listening to your employees should be done through actions. Consider this example: your employees ask you some reasonable benefits that will be favorable for them and the company as a whole. You spare time to talk and listen to them. Then you think about their concerns and understand their situation. After you understand them, you started to feel what they feel. But after all, it was not put into action and realization. Your employees felt like their boss has not listened to them. So all the hearing, considering and feeling were just wasted. And your employees’ morale has turned down.
To listen rightfully to your employees, you need to use your ears (to hear them), your mind (to understand them), your heart (to feel them) and most importantly, your hands (to act on them). Remember that your employees will not feel like they were heard by their bosses unless their bosses act and accomplished their concerns.
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